NATIONAL NEWS

India Post Signs MoU with CAIT and Tripta Technologies

• India Post has signed an MoU with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Tripta Technologies for logistics services.

• The MoU will benefit small and medium traders as they will be able to use India Post as a single logistics service provider across the country.

• The partnership between India Post, CAIT and Tripta Technologies will provide shipping and last mile delivery services to CAIT's strong merchant base and small and medium business in the unorganized sector.
• The MoU is a significant milestone in taking e-commerce to smaller towns and rural areas and is expected to benefit thousands of merchants.

Shree Anna in The Meals of Personnel of CAPFs and NDRF

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently decided to introduce Millets, Shree Anna in the meals of personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
• The decision to introduce 30 per cent Millets in the meals.
• The Ministry had asked all the forces to take action for the introduction of Millets based menu.
• The Ministry informed that Millets will also be made available in Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar, Grocery Shops of the campuses and Ration Store by setting up dedicated counters and corners.
• The forces will organize training of cooks in preparing millets-based dishes through reputed institutes in this field.
• The United Nations had declared 2023 the International Year Millets as recognizing the importance of millets, and creating a domestic and global demand along with providing nutritious food to the people, at the behest of the Government of India.

Zoom Gets Pan-India Telecom Licence

• Zoom Video Communications (ZVC) has secured a pan-India telecom licence that will enable it to offer telephone services to enterprise customers.

• US-based Zoom has been offering voice and video conference service through its website and app.

• With these licences, the company will be able to offer its cloud-based private branch exchange (PBX) service ‘Zoom Phone’ to multinational corporations (MNCs) and businesses operating in India.

• PBX works as a local telephone exchange for enterprises and helps them in managing conference call services.

• Zoom partners with international telecommunication providers and offers phone numbers and calling plans in 47 countries and territories bundled with cloud PBX service.
• Zoom, stylized as Zoom or Zoom Meetings, is a proprietary videotelephony software program developed by Zoom Video Communications.

Rajasthan Government Launches Cattle Insurance Scheme

• Looking at the importance of animal husbandry in the economy of Rajasthan, the state government is providing schemes, including recently launched insurance cover for milch cattle.
• Livestock accounts for 8-9% of state GDP’
• In inflation-relief camps, or ‘Mehangai Rahat” camps, a scheme of Rajasthan Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot, launched on April 2023 and slated to continue till 30 June 2023 those in cattle rearing are being provided insurance cover of Rs 40,000 each for two milch cows under the Mukhyamantri Kamdhenu Pashu Bima Yojana.
• According to the scheme, Rs 750 crore would be spent a year and more than 2 million cattle rearers would benefit from it.
• The scheme is free for rearers with an annual income up to Rs 8 lakh a year, while those earning more have to pay Rs 200 per animal per annum.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2023

• The Petersberg Dialogue on Climate Change was held in Berlin.

• The Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) was hosted by Germany and the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• Ministers from 40 countries attended the conference to discuss the way forward towards COP28.

• The main topics of discussion at the event were renewable targets, climate finance and global stocktake.
• The conference agreed to focus on phasing out fossil fuel emissions while phasing out viable, affordable zero-carbon alternatives.

India- Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment

• Sixth India- Canada Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) held in Ottawa.

• The Ministers reviewed the India-Canada CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations.

• Goyal participated in various events to promote trade and investment in Toronto from 9 to 10 May 2023.

• Piyush Goyal inaugurated the India Pavilion at SIAL Canada-2023, the largest food innovation trade show in North America with participation of over 1000 national and international exhibitors from 50 countries.

BANKING

Bharatpe Rebrands PAYBACK India as ‘Zillion’

• BharatPe Group, one of India’s leading names in the fintech industry, announced that it will be rebranding PAYBACK India, the multi-brand loyalty program to ‘Zillion’.

• This new brand identity is in line with the company’s vision to make Zillion ubiquitous to loyalty and rewards across the country.

• The new brand identity intends to appeal to clients of all ages and give their overall shopping experience across brands and categories a new dimension.

• Zillion will offer a wide range of options for customers to earn and redeem at a wide range of partners across India.
• Customers will be able to earn Zillion coins across the network of offline and online partners, including groceries, fuel, entertainment, travel, apparel, and more.

HDFC to Sell Education Finance Arm Credila

• HDFC has decided to sell its student loan subsidiary ahead of its merger with HDFC Bank and has appointed an investment banker for the stake sale.
• Company will be valued at Rs 10,000 crore, approximately 4 times its net worth.
• Currently, HDFC is in the process of merging with HDFC Bank and, as a condition of the merger, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed HDFC to sell or merge Credila with either HDFC or HDFC Bank before the consolidation.
• Until the stake sale, HDFC Credila has been disbarred from extending fresh loans.
• Credila is India’s largest education sector-focused Non-banking Finance Company (NBFC), specialising in providing education loans to students pursuing higher education in India and overseas.
• Since its establishment in 2006, it has extended loans to 1.2 lakh customers.

Meeting of Board of Directors of Asian Development Bank in South Korea

• Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman will lead the Indian delegation to attend the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with Investor/ Bilateral and other associated meetings, in Incheon, the Republic of Korea.

• The Meetings will be attended by official delegations of ADB members, observers, non-governmental and civil society organisations, media, financial institutions and banks and other private sector companies.

• The engagements of Union Finance Minister will consist of the following components

• Interaction with Global Economists, Governors / Finance Ministers of the ADB member countries etc.
• Bilateral engagements with countries and international organisations.
• Interaction with global business leaders and investors in roundtables.
• Engagement with Community Diaspora.

AWARDS & PRIZES

National Youth Parliament Competition, 2022-23

• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal won the first prize in the 24th National Youth Parliament Competition, 2022-23.

• Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been organising Youth Parliament Competitions in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas for the past 26 years.

• The Youth Parliament Scheme aims at inculcating among the younger generations the spirit of self-discipline, righteous expression of views, and other virtues of a democratic way of life.

• 80 Vidyalayas spread over 8 regions of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti participated in the 24th National Youth Parliament Competition.
• The main of the Youth Parliament Scheme is to inculcate the spirit of self-discipline, righteous expression of views, and other virtues of a democratic way of life among youths.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

President of Paraguay

• Conservative Economist and former finance minister Santiago Pena won the Paraguay presidential election 2023.

• Santiago Pena will be 52nd President of Paraguay on August 15, 2023.

• He won 43% of the vote in the Presidential election & defeated opposition candidate Efrain Alegre who secured 28% votes.

• He will replace Mario Abdo Benítez who is serving as the president of Paraguay since 2018.
• The incumbent conservative Colorado Party had governed the country for 71 of the past 76 years.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Artificial Intelligence Based Solution to Tackle Fraud Messages

• Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications companies, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning-based solution.

• It is to proactively detect, prevent, and eliminate phishing, spam, and fraud through messaging, and is testing it in partnership with HDFC Bank, a leading Indian financial institution.

• Direct connectivity has been established between Airtel and HDFC to help secure end-to-end SMS (short messaging service) connectivity and flagging any other route.
• The solution uses an anti-spam filter that can detect and block up to two million messages per day.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Athletics Day

• World Athletics Day is observed every year on 07 May.

• The day was established by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).

• On this day, IAAF organizes several competitions and tournaments to engage people in sports and exercise.

• The theme for World Athletics Day 2023 is ‘Athletics for All – A New Beginning.’
• It is to encourage people to take up sports and participate in various sports and athletic activities.
• This day was celebrated for the first time in the year 1996.